


To Be Strong

by TheHomestuckWhovian



Series: Accidental AU [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Corruption of Gems, Gen, OC bases on bismuth seen in Lion's Dimension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-20 17:34:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4796246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHomestuckWhovian/pseuds/TheHomestuckWhovian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has told Bismuth that she isn't strong enough. Now she is going to extreme lengths to prove how strong she is, even if it will kill her in the process.</p><p>The story of how a small gem deemed unusable by gem society ends up becoming the most dangerous corrupted gem of all time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be Strong

The first thing she noticed was that she was cold.

The nameless gem's eyes were closed tightly, and she felt cold. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be back in the comforting warmth of underground, surrounded by the warmth of the core of this planet.

"Get up."

Those are the first words she heard, and yet she can understand them. She curled on the ground, trying to warm herself up, but quickly realizing her body has no warmth of its own. The dirt she was trying to warm herself on was as cold as the air on her body. The light that makes up her had no heat, and she shivered.

She cried out, the first sound her body makes, as she wass yanked up by her arm, and had her eyes forced open.

Her eyes, being made of light, take little time to adjust, and suddenly she was surrounded with purples and grays and blacks of a place she doesn't recognize, because this was her first time seeing at all. She shivers as she stares at the dull golden color of the large gem holding her in the air by her arm.

"Small," the Pyrite observes. The new gem, a Bismuth, shrieked as the gem holding her pokes her gem, with rests above where a human's solar plexus is. "Sensitive. This planet is running low on nutrients. This gem is pathetic." Pyrite dropped Bismuth, who shivers and scoots away from Pyrite.

Pyrite stood above Bismuth, intimidatingly starting, and ordered, "Put clothes on."

Clothes. Bismuth knew that word. Despite her recent birth, her gem is born with certain information. She closes her eyes, focusing hard.

"You've got to be kidding me," Pyrite grumbles at Bismuth's choice of clothing.

The new gem chose a fluffy blue coat, that contrasts deeply with her yellow skin. She also donned pair of pink pants, and her thick, sturdy boots were bright green. Her purple hair had square shaped curls, which are now tied back out of her face, save for two curls at the front, which fade through the rainbow to orange.

Her clothes may not provide actual warmth, Bismuth noted mentally. They were made of the same light she was. They were physically part of her body the way her nose and eyes were. But, with them, it was easier to pretend that warmth that was gone from this planet, save for its core, was there.

* * *

She quickly learned that strength meant everything. She watched as more gems like her, little gems with sensitive gems and lithe bodies like hers', came from the ground, confused and scared, just like her. She wanted to go to them, to tell them that it will be okay, that eventually the cold isn't as bad, that not all gems are like the ones who pull her out, that they will get a chance for happiness.

Bismuth knew better than to lie to them.

Soon, this planet was deemed drained, now only able to yield small gems like her. She was dragged away from the place she was created, and she was the only one who watched with horror as the planet that gave her life collapses as they fly away.

And she changed again. Her clothes that give her false warmth shift into armor, a blue coat becoming a chest plate, thick pink pants becoming protective leggings, green boots become shin guards. Her hair remained out of her face, and she stood there, looking ready for battle.

This illusion is different. Instead of pretending that there is warmth to be gained, she was pretending that she was ready for everything that was coming, that she was prepared for the blows she would be dealt.

It was easier to pretend to be brave than admit she was weak.

* * *

Life was comfortable, at least for a while. She was a rare gem, rare enough that her size didn't make her chances at having a somewhat comfortable life impossible. She was a prize to bigger, more important gems. Her small size and vibrant colors were considered adorable, and Bismuth quickly learned that she was seen as a stuffed animal rather than a gem.

She despised this.

Thousands of years pass, and Bismuth is handed from gem to gem, as a gift or trading for a valuable item. Once, she befriended another rare gem like herself, though her color scheme was a lot more straight forward.

Lapis loved Homeworld, and saw everything amazing about it. She was a positive, fun-loving gem with a good sense of humor, and enormous amounts of optimism. Compared to Bismuth, whose own worldview was much more jaded, Lapis was filled with light and excitement. Bismuth considered that, due to Lapis being her own gem instead of the property of some stronger gem, it was easier to have rose-colored glasses.

It was around the time of Pink Diamond's return that Bismuth exploded.

She shouted at the gem she had been handed off to, screaming at them to stop looking at her like some kind of pet, to treat her as a gem. She didn't care that the gem she was shouting at was Blue Diamond, or that she was doing so in front of all three of the leaders. Her armor grew sharp as she demanded that she be treated equally.

The next place she went was a Kindergarten on Earth, to work as a meager laborer as punishment for what she did.

Her clothes changed again, fitting her situation instead of her desires now. She was back in her former clothes, the ones she had given herself when she was born, but they looked ragged, and useless for providing warmth. She struggled to dig holes where gems in the same position she was once in would come out of. This planet was still rich, and Bismuth saw the green plants, the animals that darted away when she approached.

She couldn't grow attached, despite the beauty that almost made her forget why she was here. It would be gone, just like the one she was born on.

She tread lightly, didn't say much. She had already been banished to this planet for trying to stand up for herself. Best to stay quiet and follow orders, or something worse would happen.

Strength was all the Homeworld cared about, and she didn't have any.


End file.
